Very well done, I think you're the first one who showed that trail in such great detail! This video really stands out from what I've seen already, I hope you get a ton of views
i think the ambulance will be really familiar with this part of the Uetliberg... some sections are narrow and so easy to go to the outside... once more people will ride these sections, will be more sketchier
Hopefully people will follow the pre-ride, re-ride, free-ride mantra and check out the trail properly before going full send. The trail doesn’t pose a huge challenge for more advanced riders, but there were a number of people I saw struggling to make it down some sections.
Checked out the Höckler yesterday. Watched others putting on body armour. Decided to leave it. Watched your video and I’m glad I did. I think I’ll have a crack at it mid-week when it’s quiet and I can crawl down. 😂
A great video Darren, very good for me to get an impression before I visit the trail. But after your video I have even more desire to ride the trail, but I will leave out the bigger features. Thanks for sharing and well done mate. Ride on
To whom it may concern, Höckler Trail didn't change so much after 2 years. It's fun to ride on although I found it more difficult than Antenna Trail next to it.
@@TrailTrackerSwitzerland exactly, the 2nd part. That day the trail was just completely dry to dust and breaking was intense. Anyways, thanks for the video. First one that goes into details of each section. Keep them coming!
Great Video! Wanted to recommend this trail. I really like the flowy first part and the slightly steeper second part. The third part I need to find the best & flowiest lines. The jumpline is to big for me at the moment. All in all great black trail!
Thanks Hans! There’s definitely some flow to be had on the third section. It’s just not always obvious. I expect it’ll improve over time as more work is done on the trail.
Some nice flowing trails there mate and lots of cool features to keep you entertained 👍 Great riding and kudos if you can clear the last jump with a big boulder on top of it as that would freak me out lol
Thank you. What I mean is that instead of jumping it, they just rolled over it, dropped their front wheel into the gap and almost went over the handlebars. I also saw a bunch of people just push their bikes over it and then start riding.
Great video mate. Do I take it that you were a bit unimpressed? It does look quite bitty and not too well thought out, almost as if (as appears to happen in the PDS on the official stuff at times) that it wasn't really built by riders but by people who think they know what riders want. Still, looks like fun 👍
Thanks mate. I think it's fair to say that I was hoping for a bit more. Having said that, there is potential and over time, I'm sure it will improve. That was certainly the case for the other official trail on the same side of Zurich.
Do you know if the trail officially reopened? Because two or three weeks ago someone wrote in the "Tagesanzeiger" that the trail has been closed by Züritrails, at least a part. Because of some riders who rode it in wet conditions... The Höcklertrail is brandnew isn't it?
You can find the trail status on www.zueritrails.ch. Unfortunately, it has been heavily ridden in the wet, which has caused a lot of damage and now two sections are closed.
Yeah i like the trail but it's nothing compared to what we lost which was the Harikiri /Kamikaze trail. This new trail was meant to be a hard natural enduro trail but the natural bits aren't built that great e.g. the section with the blown out dirt with no catchers on the finish of some big berms and the huge gaps and drops well great but a bit beyond my skill and there's no room for error with those double doubles after the roadgap and even the drop to the left after the doable small gap. I expect there will be a lot of people getting injured on this trail as the margin for error is quite limited. That saying I do like the trails and it is fun, but it could have (should have?) been so much more than what it is...
Sad to think that stuff like this will probably be the only places where MTB will still be allowed in the future due to the huge amount of riders and the ongoing conflicts with hikers on natural trails. It just feels weird to me to see flags and signs in the forest.
Thankfully, once you get away from the city, there are still plenty of more natural options here in Switzerland. In a number of Cantons, there is also an official policy of respect for all users on shared usage trails, which seems to work well. There will always be areas where there is a lot of traffic and therefore a need to separate bikers and hikers, but In all my years of riding, my experiences with hikers have been overwhelmingly positive. I hope we can keep it this way, since as you say, a future that only contains machine built trails would be a very sad future!
@@TrailTrackerSwitzerland In my understanding, the goal of official bike trails like this one is to channel bikers and to keep them away from the hiking trails. There are very many interests at stake, including nature conservation, wildlife protection, forest protection and many more. Therefore, in many regions of the country, they just don't get the room to seperate bikers and hikers. Unfortunately, the "policy of respect" is slowly fading as the number of people on the trails grows rapidly. Covid has definitely accelerated this trend.
2:05 i mean it's true, the rollers come way too quick after the drop. Also with the other drop a bit later down the trail. It's extremely hard to pick the exact speed to hit the landing. But whatever, guess i should not complain edit: just watched the ending of the video where you say smaller drops. I think the bigger problem is no run out zone, before something comes up. But yeah smaller drops would have also been good
Thanks for commenting. Good to know we aren’t the only ones who had doubts about the features. The trail feels like it’s got a bit of a split personality, moving from mellow blue to big technical send in the blink of an eye. It would have just been nice to include something to help you work up to the big hits.
@@TrailTrackerSwitzerland Absolutely same impression here ! I did the trail for the first time when it was open for maybe just 1 or 2 weeks. It was no problem at all, even the steep left dropdown corner after the little but tricky PeinAIR drop was fun and no big challenge the first time. The 2nd time I went down I had quite a serious crash exactly at this dropdown because of one of those "struggling guys" was stopping right before and I decided to pass him anyway which turned out to be a mistake (just some bigger stratches on my left shin and a ripped of dropper post remote). Anyway, I like the trail, it's quite challenging and diversified, but not too difficult as even my 10 year old son managed to get down all sections at the first attempt, he even did a roller over the squirrel catcher which wasn't there the first 3 times I did the new Höckler Trail (th-cam.com/video/YDmRySAELOM/w-d-xo.html). And I totally agree, there should be more "normal" features like smaller drops, because the 2 main features are kind of "ride or die" :-) Keep on going to share all your videos, I'm really enjoying them ! :-)
@@racetrack491 Thanks man. Sorry to hear about the crash, but glad it was nothing serious. It's just not clear who this trail is aimed at. A few riders who I know that have hit the big drops are only really interested in the jump line because the rest of the trail is not challenging enough for them, but those that will get the most enjoyment from the trail are unlikely to hit the big drops!
Sorry but i think you missed the part at the end there is another first technical then more flowy part. Also very lapable. I enjoy starting at the jump line or one above and just get some laps with my e bike from there. Just choosing and skipping the parts you like or don't. But still great video.
I don’t get this obsession in Switzerland with building small or huge. Where is all the intermediate stuff to help you build up to it? You literally have to go to Austria or France (or Canada 😬) to get from good to really good... or risk eating shit over and over until you get it right. I rode Höckler with mates and we were all disappointed. We‘re no pro‘s .. but we aren‘t shit either 🤷♂️ Wasted opportunity.
I know what you mean. More variety could have made this the trail that people in the area have been waiting so long for. In my opinion, the trails in Canada do this better than anywhere else.
It wasn’t what I was expecting at all. On Trail Forks it’s listed as black, but I can only assume that is because of the two big feature. Take those features out and it’s probably a blue.
I‘d be right up for the gap if those rollers after it weren’t there or if they were built as a table so you don’t die pulling up short. I watched a guy take the drop to the inside and just roll them but there’s not much room for error.
Can we all take a moment to appreciate the uni-cyclist at 3:57
Lovely round-up on a trail again mate... Looks like a baller trail as well. :D
Thanks man! Good spot! It was her first ride of the trail and she was struggling to make it down the steeper bits.
Very well done, I think you're the first one who showed that trail in such great detail! This video really stands out from what I've seen already, I hope you get a ton of views
Thank you! So far, it’s proved to be my fastest growing video. Whether it continues to attract viewers over the long run remains to be seen.
Great presentation of this trail. Keep up the great work!
Thanks, I'll do my best.
Great video Darren it was a really fun day, the roll out from the drop looked a lot less dramatic on camera than from my point of view😂
The camera never does it justice!
i think the ambulance will be really familiar with this part of the Uetliberg... some sections are narrow and so easy to go to the outside... once more people will ride these sections, will be more sketchier
Hopefully people will follow the pre-ride, re-ride, free-ride mantra and check out the trail properly before going full send. The trail doesn’t pose a huge challenge for more advanced riders, but there were a number of people I saw struggling to make it down some sections.
Checked out the Höckler yesterday. Watched others putting on body armour.
Decided to leave it. Watched your video and I’m glad I did.
I think I’ll have a crack at it mid-week when it’s quiet and I can crawl down. 😂
Probably a good decision. It’s the sort of trail where there can be huge differences in rider speed.
A great video Darren, very good for me to get an impression before I visit the trail. But after your video I have even more desire to ride the trail, but I will leave out the bigger features. Thanks for sharing and well done mate. Ride on
Thanks Christoph. Just remember though - don’t try and roll the squirrel catcher 😜
Great video! I lived in Switzerland for a few years but it was long before my mountain biking days. I clearly missed out on the goods.
Thanks. We are certainly blessed with some great riding.
Great ride! I love the forest! I like it! Thank you for the video!
Thanks for watching and commenting. Much appreciated!
Sick! I need to check this out. Followed your Stoffel vid last week and did a few lap. Thanks!
Nice one. The Stoffel is a great trail. Thanks for watching!
That’s what some of us call it NARGLY! Awesome clips mi amigo! Thanks for sharing. 🤙🏽👊🏽💥🙌🏽
Thanks for watching dude. Hopefully going to check out something much more gnarly at the weekend!
Thanks for another really good trail review/guide!
You are more than welcome. Thanks for watching.
Thanks for this relaxing video 👍
You’re very welcome. Thanks for stopping by and taking the time to comment.
@@TrailTrackerSwitzerland nice to see someone showcasing my local trails. Have you ridden the Harakiri trail on Ütliberg?
@@ryansteiger6960 I rode it once a couple of years ago, but didn’t release a film of it because of all the trail access issues at the time.
Awesome black trail, sick rollers after feature one. A livestream from there would be fun...
Thanks for watching. A livestream.... Now that’s something I had never thought of. I wonder how much of an audience there would be for that.
To whom it may concern, Höckler Trail didn't change so much after 2 years. It's fun to ride on although I found it more difficult than Antenna Trail next to it.
Thanks for the update. I haven’t ridden it since I made this video 😂
Really interesting trail but some of the parts were too difficult for me as a beginner rider. Will come back after training more on Uetliberg.
Thanks for watching. Out of interest, was it the second section you struggled with?
@@TrailTrackerSwitzerland exactly, the 2nd part. That day the trail was just completely dry to dust and breaking was intense.
Anyways, thanks for the video. First one that goes into details of each section. Keep them coming!
Great Video! Wanted to recommend this trail. I really like the flowy first part and the slightly steeper second part. The third part I need to find the best & flowiest lines. The jumpline is to big for me at the moment. All in all great black trail!
Thanks Hans! There’s definitely some flow to be had on the third section. It’s just not always obvious. I expect it’ll improve over time as more work is done on the trail.
Some nice flowing trails there mate and lots of cool features to keep you entertained 👍 Great riding and kudos if you can clear the last jump with a big boulder on top of it as that would freak me out lol
Thanks mate! I’m normally not a huge fan of pure flow trails. But this one certainly has a bit more character to keep things interesting.
That looks like a nice place to ride 🤟🤟
Thankfully, just one of many great options we have. Thanks for watching!
@@TrailTrackerSwitzerland great stuff mate thanks for the reply nice video and I hope everyone is enjoying the nice dry weather 👍👌
Great video, thanks a lot! What do you mean by "roll" the squirrel catcher?
Thank you. What I mean is that instead of jumping it, they just rolled over it, dropped their front wheel into the gap and almost went over the handlebars. I also saw a bunch of people just push their bikes over it and then start riding.
Great video mate. Do I take it that you were a bit unimpressed? It does look quite bitty and not too well thought out, almost as if (as appears to happen in the PDS on the official stuff at times) that it wasn't really built by riders but by people who think they know what riders want. Still, looks like fun 👍
Thanks mate. I think it's fair to say that I was hoping for a bit more. Having said that, there is potential and over time, I'm sure it will improve. That was certainly the case for the other official trail on the same side of Zurich.
When I hit the trail the first few times I was a bit disappointed as well but when you get used to it, many sections suddenly do make sense.
Air time!!! Awesome!!!
I'll be honest, we were hoping for more. But hey, it's the beginning of the season and we're both old men!!!
Looks like my kinda trail 🤘🏼
It’s proven really popular. In fact it’s been ridden so hard since opening that they’ve had to close some sections for repair work already.
Sehr geiles Video! Welchen Garmin Edge benützt du?
Danke. Der Garmin ist auf dem Bike von meinem Kollege Gavin. Ich bin ziemlich Old Skool und brauche nur mein Handy fürs Navigieren
Crazy that it is rated as a red level trail... seams to have some serious features and obsecles 👊
There are indeed a couple of pretty substantial features, which is why actually rated red with some optional black features.
Do you know if the trail officially reopened? Because two or three weeks ago someone wrote in the "Tagesanzeiger" that the trail has been closed by Züritrails, at least a part. Because of some riders who rode it in wet conditions... The Höcklertrail is brandnew isn't it?
I forgot... I like your work for all us bikers out there! Keep it up!
You can find the trail status on www.zueritrails.ch. Unfortunately, it has been heavily ridden in the wet, which has caused a lot of damage and now two sections are closed.
Thank you for the support 👍
Yeah i like the trail but it's nothing compared to what we lost which was the Harikiri /Kamikaze trail. This new trail was meant to be a hard natural enduro trail but the natural bits aren't built that great e.g. the section with the blown out dirt with no catchers on the finish of some big berms and the huge gaps and drops well great but a bit beyond my skill and there's no room for error with those double doubles after the roadgap and even the drop to the left after the doable small gap. I expect there will be a lot of people getting injured on this trail as the margin for error is quite limited. That saying I do like the trails and it is fun, but it could have (should have?) been so much more than what it is...
I never rode the trail in it's previous incarnation, so can't comment. Let's just hope that more work will be done and it'll improve over time.
Awesome
Thank you. We certainly had a lot of fun making this one!
ohh...I need to try this soon =)
I reckon you’ll end up just lapping the jump line at the bottom mostly.
Thats my plan🤓
Sad to think that stuff like this will probably be the only places where MTB will still be allowed in the future due to the huge amount of riders and the ongoing conflicts with hikers on natural trails. It just feels weird to me to see flags and signs in the forest.
Thankfully, once you get away from the city, there are still plenty of more natural options here in Switzerland. In a number of Cantons, there is also an official policy of respect for all users on shared usage trails, which seems to work well. There will always be areas where there is a lot of traffic and therefore a need to separate bikers and hikers, but In all my years of riding, my experiences with hikers have been overwhelmingly positive. I hope we can keep it this way, since as you say, a future that only contains machine built trails would be a very sad future!
@@TrailTrackerSwitzerland In my understanding, the goal of official bike trails like this one is to channel bikers and to keep them away from the hiking trails. There are very many interests at stake, including nature conservation, wildlife protection, forest protection and many more. Therefore, in many regions of the country, they just don't get the room to seperate bikers and hikers. Unfortunately, the "policy of respect" is slowly fading as the number of people on the trails grows rapidly. Covid has definitely accelerated this trend.
Oh gseht ja gaaaanz geil us!
Es war definitiv die Reise wert. Es braucht aber ein paar Abfahrten bis man die Linie gut kennt.
@@TrailTrackerSwitzerland ja, der ist sicher mal auf meiner ToDo Liste dieses Jahr... :D
2:05 i mean it's true, the rollers come way too quick after the drop. Also with the other drop a bit later down the trail. It's extremely hard to pick the exact speed to hit the landing. But whatever, guess i should not complain
edit: just watched the ending of the video where you say smaller drops. I think the bigger problem is no run out zone, before something comes up. But yeah smaller drops would have also been good
Thanks for commenting. Good to know we aren’t the only ones who had doubts about the features. The trail feels like it’s got a bit of a split personality, moving from mellow blue to big technical send in the blink of an eye. It would have just been nice to include something to help you work up to the big hits.
@@TrailTrackerSwitzerland Absolutely same impression here ! I did the trail for the first time when it was open for maybe just 1 or 2 weeks. It was no problem at all, even the steep left dropdown corner after the little but tricky PeinAIR drop was fun and no big challenge the first time. The 2nd time I went down I had quite a serious crash exactly at this dropdown because of one of those "struggling guys" was stopping right before and I decided to pass him anyway which turned out to be a mistake (just some bigger stratches on my left shin and a ripped of dropper post remote). Anyway, I like the trail, it's quite challenging and diversified, but not too difficult as even my 10 year old son managed to get down all sections at the first attempt, he even did a roller over the squirrel catcher which wasn't there the first 3 times I did the new Höckler Trail (th-cam.com/video/YDmRySAELOM/w-d-xo.html). And I totally agree, there should be more "normal" features like smaller drops, because the 2 main features are kind of "ride or die" :-) Keep on going to share all your videos, I'm really enjoying them ! :-)
@@racetrack491 Thanks man. Sorry to hear about the crash, but glad it was nothing serious.
It's just not clear who this trail is aimed at. A few riders who I know that have hit the big drops are only really interested in the jump line because the rest of the trail is not challenging enough for them, but those that will get the most enjoyment from the trail are unlikely to hit the big drops!
@@TrailTrackerSwitzerland exactly ! Don’t get it either 🤦🏻♂️
Geiler Trail gehen ich auch mal
Gute Idee 👍Ich würde aber ein bisschen abwarten bis es wieder schön trocken ist.
@@TrailTrackerSwitzerland ja
It's always closed and let's be honest say how it is: This trail costed tacpayers CHF 400'000
I’ve not been since. But I hear you. I was definitely hoping for more.
Sick trail! The rollers after the first big gap are also known as nutcatchers aka double doubles hahaha
I think both Gav and I can attest to that 😂😂😂
Sorry but i think you missed the part at the end there is another first technical then more flowy part. Also very lapable. I enjoy starting at the jump line or one above and just get some laps with my e bike from there. Just choosing and skipping the parts you like or don't.
But still great video.
Thanks for the feedback. It's amazing that you are the first person to mention this, despite the video being online for 3 months now 👍
I don’t get this obsession in Switzerland with building small or huge. Where is all the intermediate stuff to help you build up to it? You literally have to go to Austria or France (or Canada 😬) to get from good to really good... or risk eating shit over and over until you get it right. I rode Höckler with mates and we were all disappointed. We‘re no pro‘s .. but we aren‘t shit either 🤷♂️ Wasted opportunity.
I know what you mean. More variety could have made this the trail that people in the area have been waiting so long for. In my opinion, the trails in Canada do this better than anywhere else.
@@TrailTrackerSwitzerland @ritchie phillips --> Maybe it helps if we all send our suggestions/recommendations/thoughts to www.zueritrails.ch/kontakt ?
bit of a bizarre trail. seems fairly mellow with some really hard features.
It wasn’t what I was expecting at all. On Trail Forks it’s listed as black, but I can only assume that is because of the two big feature. Take those features out and it’s probably a blue.
@@TrailTrackerSwitzerland that wooden road gap was huge.
@@MTBScotland It is in indeed! We only saw a couple of people hitting it.
I‘d be right up for the gap if those rollers after it weren’t there or if they were built as a table so you don’t die pulling up short. I watched a guy take the drop to the inside and just roll them but there’s not much room for error.
It does seem to have been made unnecessarily technical. Hopefully, it doesn’t cause any nasty crashes 🤞
These trails looks like made someone who doesn't ride a bike
You’re not the first person who I’ve heard say something like this. Opinions on this trail seem to vary massively.
God awful angles
@@hubi5276 🤷🏻♂️